Relations between Arctic large-scale TEC changes and scintillations over Greenland

• Main Authors: Durgonics, Tibor, Høeg, Per, von Benzon, Hans-Henrik
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: Arctic; Greenland; Kangerlussuaq; Sisimiut; Thule
• Online Access: https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/ff02416f-096b-4547-8d83-76730a498600; https://backend.orbit.dtu.dk/ws/files/107186218/AGU_Fall2014_Abstract.pdf

The increasing dependence on GNSS-based methods and technologies for global or regionalnavigation and communication has raised concerns about the impact of space weather on thesesystems. Temporal and spatial ionosphere variations caused by driving forces, such as changes insolar radiation, solar wind, and the Earth’s magnetic field contribute to errors in satellite navigationpositioning and communication systems. In this study we will focus on the impact of space weatherin the Arctic region related to total electron content (TEC) and scintillation changes.Measurements from the GNSS network of stations in Greenland are analyzed and geophysicalvariables such as such as TEC, amplitude scintillation indices (S 4 ), and phase scintillation indices (σϕ), are calculated together with 2D/3D electron density and scintillation maps. For the TEC weapplied data from the Greenland GNET network of stations – consisting of 62 stations, while thescintillations data are based on 50 Hz sampled data from a set of sites on the west coast ofGreenland (i.e., Thule, Sisimiut, and Kangerlussuaq).The GNSS-derived data is augmented by ground-based geomagnetic measurements, such as theDst-index and magnetic H-component data obtained from the Greenland magnetic stations. Extremeionosphere events will be presented and the underlying geophysical process will be identified anddiscussed. Especially results where large-scale gradients in the regional TEC are compared with thegrowth of scintillations.We will identify crucial elements and parameters (such as the auroral oval and the auroralelectrojet), driving these changes in the Greenland TEC, S 4 and σϕ distributions, in order to come upwith appropriate algorithms and tools for monitoring and predicting Arctic TEC and scintillationlarge-scale patterns.